Timeline 1 - Before Armagedon
by Ca1piggy
Summary: The story of the new alliance. The story of the seduction of Bell. The story of how Bell got his harem. The story of the brave Pallum. The story of the surprise attack. (I do not own Danmachi)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - An Important Meeting**

A few days after the Xenos escaped back into the dungeon, Fels requested the Hestia familia's assistance with a diplomatic mission. The goal was to establish a formal understanding with the Xenos so that Rivira will be more secure. The original plan only involved Fels who would meet with the Xenos on the 19th floor. However, Ouranos felt that Bell would be a great addition to the mission given the respect he earned with the Xenos. Although Bell had not trained for his battle with Asterius, he agreed to the mission. He and his familia members definitely wanted to see Wienne, and he also was looking forward to spend more time with Lyd and Gros to talk about his dream of mutual cooperation and coexistence. To get buy in from Riviria, the group would first head to Rivira to meet with Bors Elder, who had agreed to discuss the secret mission with them.

The beginning of the trip was relatively uneventful for Bell and Fels, and they already knew that the 17th floor boss was recently defeated. However, Bell was quite happy with the opportunity that the mission gives to his familia members. They have been frustrated because they were unable to provide much assistance against the high-level opponents. Bell realized that this mission should allow Welf, Mikoto, Lili and Haruhime to gain useful experience. To support his familia members, he actually helped Haruhime carry some of the gear so that she could get in on the fighting.

At the beginner levels, Lili expedited matters by drawing out numerous monsters by using Cinder Ella. To make the trip more enjoyable following the initial battles, Lili also used Cinder Ella to turn into Ais to embarrass Bell. The trick worked, and Bell turn bright red when 'Ais' whispered some adult talk in his ears.

As they descended into the mid-levels, Bell focused on protecting Haruhime after she used Uchide no Kozuchi to level up Welf or Mikoto. With the level boost, Welf had a good victory versus silverbacks on the 12th floor and then a minotaur on the 16th floor. On the 13th floor, a level-boosted Mikoto defeated an infant dragon by herself using Futsunomitama.

When they arrived at Rivira, Bors quickly guided them to a quiet location to discuss the mission. After expressing a lot of concern and mistrust of the Xenos, Bors did agree to give negotiations a chance. They finally gained his support when they convinced him that the Xenos were attacked first by the Ikelos familia and they were simply avenging their friends.

When the group got down to the 19th floor, Lyd and Gros were there to greet them. They then happily reunited with Wienne, who literally jumped into the arms of Bell and Haruhime. During their happy reunion, Asterius walked in, causing Bell to prepare for battle. However, Asterius quickly assured Bell that this was not the time for their match, and suggested a time and location for their final match.

The meeting went as well as could be expected. A truce was agreed to, as the Xenos agreed to stay away from Rivira. Also Fels and Bell have been assigned as neutral mediators in any future disagreements. A feast was prepared for celebrating the truce, and everyone cheered for the eventual normalization of relations. Bell and Fels went off with Asterius, Lyd and Gros to discuss the hopeful future. The Xenos believed in Bell and hoped that his vision of mutual coexistence and cooperation can become a reality. Wienne, Haruhime and Bell also had some quality time to catch up. Wienne really misses her time at the Hestia familia home, and she also hoped that she can return to the surface world. As the celebration was coming to a close, Gros announced some urgent news - Rivira is under attack again, but this time it is by a party with earth magic and an unusual magic. Everyone immediately started heading towards the entrance back to the 18th floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Of Earth and Light**

When Fels, the Hestia familia and the Xenos arrived at Rivira, the town was in ruins again. They ran into residents escaping from the town, who were shocked to see the Xenos. However, Bors quickly vouched for the Xenos and stated that the Xenos were there to help. Unfortunately, there was not much time for talk, as a group of at least 10 earth elementals started attacking. Haruhime quickly used Uchide no Kozuchi to level up Bell, while Lili, Mikoto and two Xenos stayed behind to protect Haruhime. Bell, Welf, Fels, Gros and several Xenos charged towards the elementals from the left side while Asterios, Lyd and a large number of Xenos charged the enemy from the right side. Bell fired the first shot with a 30 second charge argonaut firebolt, which destroyed 2 elementals. Fels also launched a magic attack that defeated another elemental. As the combatants engaged each other, another group of enemies arrived. This forced Asterius' group to focus on the new wave of enemies while Bell's group continued to fight with the earth elementals.

Bell's group eventually gained the upper hand, but the elementals were substantially stronger than minotaurs. Welf was injured by an incredibly strong punch, but Mikoto saved him by using Futsunomitama to crush the elemental. As Welf's injuries were treated by some elixir, Asterius' group also returned victoriously. After they had time to compare notes, they realized that Asterius' group was fighting against light elementals. This instantly led Fels to theorize that the Great Light Spirit and the Great Earth Spirit have probably been corrupted. Furthermore, Fels believed that this attack may be linked to the Loki familia's battles with the demi spirits and other new monsters. What was puzzling Fels is why the enemy is so focused on Ais when Light and Earth Great Spirits have already been corrupted. While Fels was deep in thought, loud rumblings were heard, suggesting that more earth elementals were nearby. Before they were able to respond, the earth beneath Bell's group started shaking violently, while Asterios and the other Xenos were under attack by bolts of light.

Realizing the Great Spirits probably were attacking, Fels immediate gave the order to retreat. The situation was extremely dangerous and far above the capability of the current party with many low-level adventurers. With the normal exit to the 17th floor being far away, both groups headed towards the Knossos secret entrance that was nearby. To cover their escape, Asterius used a ice-based magic sword to cause substantial damage to the closest group of elementals. Several flying Xenos also started a counter attack. However, they were forced to retreat after two of them were hit by the bolts of light. To assist with the retreat, Lili and Gros worked together to provide a final diversion. Unexpectedly, Lili was able to use Cinder Ella to fool the enemy into thinking that a large dragon has entered the area. After buying adequate time, Gros swooped in to pick her up for the escape.

After entering Knossos, the parties took cover behind several walls before the earth elementals and light elementals could reach the entrance. As the elementals entered Knossos, Asterius fired off another ice attack that destroyed several. At that time, Fels saw the Great Light Spirit and the Great Earth Spirit of legends walk through the entrance. However, Bell's argonaut still needed more charging to reach full power...

The Great Earth Spirit suddenly caused quaking of the floor where Bell's group was standing. The result surprised everyone as the walls and ceiling started caving in. This caused all parties to run away from the collapsing area. Once his group was cleared from the unstable area, Bell turned around and fired a fully charge argonaut firebolt at the unstable area. This successfully caved in the area, separately them from the two Great Spirits. Even the Great Earth Spirit would not likely enter an area in such a condition.

After successfully covering their retreat, the entire group headed to the upper floors. Having climbing several levels, the Xenos returned back into the dungeon. As they left, Asterius reminded Bell that he is looking forward to their 3rd match. Bell nodded in agreement and indicated that he also looked forward to the deciding match. Fels suggested to the Xenos that the corruption of multiple Great Spirits has made the entire situation extremely dangerous. Given the powers that may be involved, they need to update each other on a daily basis, which the Xenos agreed to.

As a hopeful sign for the future, a few of the Rivira residents thanked the Xenos for their help.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Celebration at the Hestia Familia Home; While Opportunity Knocks**

Following their return to Orario, the Hestia familia celebrated their safe return at the Hostess of Fertility. After dinner, they returned to the familia home, and it was then time for Falna updating. Indeed, the mission had been a great success, as Haruhime, Lili and Bell have all leveled.

Haruhime was totally surprised with Hestia's announcement that she has made level 2. She also received another piece of good news, as she now has an advanced version of Uchide no Kozuchi. After some experimentation, she discovered that it can work from a substantial distance. Hestia then pointed out that the magic appears to have additional features but Hestia will explain to her later after first doing some research.

Lili was jumping for joy when she learned that she has advanced to level 2. She also discovered that her Cinder Ella spell has improved, as she now has a limited ability to copy her target's magic. However, the copy magic is much weaker than the original. For example, the copy Futsunomitama appears to the same, but she can only crush apples instead of real enemies. Nevertheless, she was able to use the magic to arouse Bell during his sleep, which earned Hestia's wrath and Mikoto's giggles.

Finally, as Hestia was checking Bell out, she happily announced that he has advanced to level 4. She was particularly puzzled by Bell's new development ability - Mage. Since Bell is more of a fighter than a magic user, it is very strange. Only 3 mages, Riveria, Leifya and young Meryl of the Hermes familia are known to have the rare Mage ability. Hestia's only explanation was perhaps Bell's frequent use of argonaut enhanced firebolt may have caused the rare ability to appear. Of course, Bell was extremely happy with the level rise, and ate several more Jagamarukuns.

The next morning, there was a surprise visitor at the front door. Freya came for a visit, causing all the male residents to be charmed and standing motionless in a daze. Apparently Freya has lost patience working through the Hostess of Fertility and decided to get straight to the point. She simply told Hestia that if she wants her Bell-kun to gain a new attack magic, she needs to give him up for one day (and night). Hestia gasped at the thought and started screaming. Freya just smiled and asked her to consider it. But if the Little Rookie was going to gain another magic, he needs to be at her Babel 'pad' by noon. Furthermore, he would need to be dressed appropriately for a hot date.

At noon, Bell knocked on Freya's door at the Babel, and she gladly showed him inside. Getting straight to the point, she asked him to take off his shirt and lie on the bed. Seeing that Bell's face is bright red, Freya smiled and said she wants to see his Falna because she has heard that it was not locked. So finally, Freya has confirmed her suspicion about his rapid advancement. At the same time, she smirked while enjoying herself at Hestia's expense. She also confirmed another useful fact - that Bell can be so easily aroused will make the mind-control training much more challenging in the future.

After Freya finished enjoying herself, she gave Bell a grimoire to read. She simply said to finish up before dinner so they can enjoy their date. This grimoire was similar to the previous one. Bell again lost conscious, and when he woke up, Freya asked him to quickly experiment with the magic on the 1st floor of the dungeon before their date.

The results were very good, as Bell has gained a rare crystal magic. It could be used for attack as a high speed spray pattern of ultra sharp crystals or for defense as a cloud of large crystals acting as a shield. Bell was quite grateful particularly after Freya confirmed his suspicion - that she was also responsible for the firebolt grimoire.

Before leaving for their date, Freya also told Bell that the crystal magic should be compatible with his hero strike. Furthermore, he should let her know if it is not so she can demand a discount. Even though it pained her to do so, Freya had to tell Bell that the crystal magic can be used in coordination with Ariel.

The fancy dinner was delicious, but Bell almost fainted when he saw the bill, which Freya quickly picked up. It was also the first time he has ever danced with Freya, which caused many jealous looks and spiteful comments. After the date, Freya took full advantage of the situation by thoroughly evaluating Bell's ability to resist her charm powers as well as the effectiveness of various punishments.

As Freya stated in her offer, Bell returned the next morning to the Hestia familia home. Hestia was of course extremely nervous and wanted to check out every square inch of Bell's body. Bell stopped her and quickly told her what happened regarding the magic. However, Hestia was primarily interested in what happened and what did not happened during the date.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Joint Activities**

While Hestia demanded a thorough inspection of Bell, someone rang at the front door. To Hestia's shock, it was Ais. First Freya, and now Ais. This immediately led to a loud scream by Hestia, who asked Bell if he cheated on her. Ais informed Hestia that she wanted to congratulate Bell on breaking yet another record, as the news of his level 4 advance is again the talk of Orario. Ais then told Bell that her familia would be staying in Orario for some time, so she invited Bell to train as they discussed earlier.

After one day and night with Freya, the thought of Bell training in private with Ais was just too much for Hestia. She passed out, and so Bell and Ais had to carry her to her room. When Hestia woke up, she said to Bell with solemn resignation that she will be present for the training so that Ais will not try to seduce him. Once Ais and Bell acknowledged Hestia's terms, they agreed that training will start everyday at 9 in the morning while the Loki familia remained in Orario.

The next morning, Bell and Hestia met with Ais for the first session. Ais suggested starting off with more sword fighting to assess Bell's improvement. While Hestia watched the sparring, she could not help but be amazed by Bell's improvement since the last time she watched them spar. They were nearly at the same fighting level! As the practice continued, it actually appeared that Bell was stronger and had better endurance. Overall, Ais still won because she is quicker and her sword skill was still superior. However, the gap was clearly closing. On one hand, Hestia was happy for Bell, but at the same time, Hestia was also dreading the day that Bell surpasses Ais...

Through 2 days of training, Bell's rapid improvement continued. Even though only 2 days transpired, he became even stronger. His quickness and agility also improved to the point that he was basically fighting evenly with Ais, who was 2 levels above Bell. After they had lunch, Ais basically stated the obvious - which was there is not much more she can teach Bell because their fighting is almost even. At that point, Bell suggested that Ais use Aerial against him during sparring. Initially, Ais resisted because she was worried that she could kill Bell by mistake. But Bell insisted and suggested that she can initially limit Aerial use to only improving her speed and agility.

When Ais activated Aerial, she was surprised by the sudden change in Aerial. She has not leveled, has not read any grimoires, and was not under magic enhancement. However, Ariel has become much more powerful. With the 3 of them confused over what had happened, Hestia suggested a stunning theory. Hestia revealed to Ais that Bell had gained the Mage development ability, and Hestia now thought Bell's ability is somehow benefiting Ais. The thought of such a 'linkage' made Hestia feel sick, but that was the most reasonable explanation. However, Ais simply did not believe that Bell can possibly possess the Mage ability because Bell is not a mage. Furthermore, Ais said only 3 of the most talented mages even possessed the rare ability. With a serious face, Hestia plainly stated to Ais that Bell had definitely gained the Mage ability after reaching level 4.

To test out Hestia's theory, Bell and Ais started experimenting with Aerial. The first tests confirmed that Aerial got stronger when Ais and Bell stood closer together. To Hestia's dismay, Aerial got even stronger when Ais and Bell held hands. To test the theory even further, Ais started to embrace Bell, but Hestia made her stop. Ais then tried to carry Bell along with Aerial, and that worked fine even when tight turns were performed.

The biggest improvement in Aerial was its power level. As a result, Ais could move faster and her attack strength also was greatly enhanced. By the end of the tests, all 3 of them were convinced that the Aerial was drawing power from both of them. Thus, Ais came up with a new name - Joint Aerial - which made Hestia cringe. However, at the end of the day, Hestia had no choice but rename Bell's development ability as Joint Mage.

The next day, Ais and Bell went back to practicing sword-fighting with Aerial. With the advantages from Aerial, Ais regained a significant advantage over Bell. In fact, she accidentally knocked Bell out several times. However, with Hestia watching, Ais was unable to enjoy lap pillowing. Of course, Hestia gladly took care of Bell while Ais watched. By the end of the day, Bell started getting used to Ais' speed advantage and adjusted to the new type of combat. In her heart, Hestia sadly knew that Bell and Ais are really made for each other, with the latest joint abilities being the most explicit evidence.

In the final day before the Loki familia headed out on another adventure, Hestia could not attend the training due to some event relating to the leveling of Haruhime. In the more relaxed environment, Bell and Ais started the day with more sword fight practices. Ais was glad to use Aerial which allowed her to knock Bell out a couple times, thereby requiring some lap pillow activities. After a Jagamarukun lunch, they decided to try out some Joint Aerial maneuvers. As Bell enjoyed the bliss of dancing in the air, their coordination actually substantially improved with only a few hours of practice. It appeared that Joint Aerial may well become a critical ability for the upcoming war...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Important Tasks**

When Haruhime advanced to level 2, Hestia pointed out that the advanced version of Uchide no Kozuchi appeared to have additional features but Hestia needed to do some research. Several days later, Hestia brought Haruhime to a distant location to conduct some research. Hestia also brought Welf with them, and simply explained that Welf was needed to do some work there. Haruhime and Welf both realized that this must be important because their trip meant Hestia allowed Ais and Bell to depend the whole day unmonitored. To their surprise, the remote location was a large building where many gods were gathered.

First, they went to a room where Hephaestus and Hermes were waiting. In a somber tone not typical of her, Hestia explained that there current location is the gods' secret emergency headquarters because they are preparing for a major battle. They had good reason to believe that could involve a clash with many corrupted Great Spirits and even the Black Dragon. They wanted Welf's help so that they can collectively produce as many magic weapons as possible. This could be important for winning the next great war and hopefully finally ridding the world of the Black Dragon with horrible powers. Furthermore, Bell and key members of the Loki familia are the keys to victory as they are related to the original elite team that fought with the Black Dragon. After absorbing the gravity of the situation and wanting to protect Bell, Welf agreed to stay and help, and followed Hephaestus to inspect the smithing facilities.

Hestia and Hermes then brought Haruhime to another room where Fels and Asfi were waiting. Hestia then explained that they believed the new version of Uchide no Kozuchi may have several important advantages, and they wanted to figure out what it is capable of. They asked Haruhime to demonstrate Uchide no Kozuchi by using it on trial subjects. She activated the magic and applied to the first test subject, who happened to be Asfi.

The first parameter they wanted to establish was the range of the magic spell. After Haruhime leveled up Asfi, Asfi flew farther and farther away to test if the leveling would cease to function. To their surprise, the leveling continue to operate even when Asfi flew back to Orario, which was many miles away from their secret location. The leveling actually continued to function even further away, but they decided 5 miles past Orario was sufficient.

After the initial success, Hestia indicated the complete testing could require at least 1 week. She added that she needed to go back to Orario but will return when the testing is finished.

After Hestia left, the testing continued. The second parameter they wanted to test was the duration of the magic spell. They discovered that the spell seems to continue to function indefinitely as long as Haruhime was willing to endure being drowsy and unable to do much of anything else. After that, they verified the results with different test subjects, and the spell appears to work equally well on different people.

The most surprising result was that the number of people who Harihume was able to level up is limited by the number of people who was willing to support Haruhime throughout the duration of the spell. That is if the goal was to boost the level of 5 subjects, then 5 total 'donors' will need to suffer throughout the period of drowiness and inability to do anything else. This rule held true until Haruhime tried to boost the level of more than 10 subjects.

After many days of testing was completed, Hestia returned. Before they left, Hestia explained to Haruhime that she would be critical to increasing the ability of the elite team during a crisis, and the 'level boosting team' would need to hide out at the secret location to ensure their safety. Haruhime gladly agreed to help especially when she found out the identities of the elite team.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Freya's Training**

After Hestia returned to Orario, she stopped to visit Freya. With the bad news about the Great Spirits, she knew it was time for her nightmare to come true - Freya's special training. That evening, Hestia explained to Bell about the special training and why it was so important to protect the team from the Black Dragon's mind control powers. Bell understood and agreed to do his best. Afterwards, they spent most of the night talking about the last 5 months and how magical a time it has been. Hestia asked Bell what they should do if they became separated by the upcoming war. Bell suggested that they could meet on the moon every month like some legends talked about. Hestia then smiled and said that would be nice. She would not mind being the moon princess of legends.

The next morning, Hestia brought Bell to see Freya. It was their longest walk ever to the Babel. Once inside Freya's 'pad', the 3 of them sat down for lunch, though Hestia did not have much appetite. At the end, Freya walked Hestia to the door, and whisper "Don't worry, I will take good care of him". With that said, training started.

Freya explained that Bell should try to resist her charm if he can. If he fails, there would be a reward and a punishment basically at Freya's whim. The first day did not go well for Bell. He tried hard to resist but Freya was just too special. Each time after falling for her charms, he lost himself in her powers and was then rewarded and punished. It was the perhaps the most excruciating experience in his life. Bell was so incredibly embarrassed but he could not resist.

The second day did not go much better. Freya tried a new type of charm with more maternal components, which worked equally well. Even with encouragement from Zeus, Bell was not able to resist. The reward and punishment both got more and more creative, but Bell simply could not make the necessary breakthrough against the incredible charm. He started to feel resistance was futile, but constantly had to gather the stamina to keep trying.

On the third day, Freya started to notice a little more resistance, but still far too little. Zeus came to Bell again in his confused state. He reminded Bell that heroes need to focus on building the harem, and not be obsessed by a single rrrrrroommaannccee. Despite Zeus' best efforts, 3 days and 3 nights went by and Bell continued to lose himself in Freya's charms.

On the fourth day, Freya suggested Bell should clear his head by doing some training, which he gladly agreed to. He went to the dungeon for a few hours to take out his frustrations on the top few floors. He left a path of destruction that few has seen on those floors, leaving little left for other adventurers. Afterwards, he went for a meal at the Hostess of Fertility. Syr and Ryuu went to talk to him knowing to a great extent what he has been going through. They did make Bell feel better by offering some words of encourage. After lunch, Bell returned to Freya for more training. After having some time to think, he decided he was going to try a new strategy - he would go on the offense instead of simply trying to resist her powers. However, putting that into action was a lot more difficult than he thought. Freya did notice Bell's change in strategy and wondered if this was the start of the reverse charm.

On the fifth day, the battle continued with Bell gaining more confidence and with Freya losing her absolute grip on Bell. By the end of the day, Bell was getting a better understanding of reverse charm. However, his improvements only meant that he was able to withstand more before again falling victim to her charms. To increase his possible tolerance response, Freya kept increasing the level of reward and punishment. Those within hearing range were probably getting very jealous.

On the sixth day, Zeus appealed to Bell again to think "harem". However, that was just unnatural to Bell. Although Zeus indirectly gave Bell an idea to try something a little more radical. He would think of Ais whenever Freya used her charm. That had an immediate impact and Freya realized that Bell may have figured something out. She tried to hold on to her advantage by using different charms to increase the level of stimuli. As the day and night went by, Bell continued to gain more resistance until he finally was able to call Freya "Ais". That absolutely devastated Freya. Having made the mental breakthrough, Bell continued to improve his usage of his feelings for Ais to resist Freya.

By the end of the seventh day, Bell had learned to reverse charm Freya. With Freya helplessly lying down in a daze, Zeus came to Bell again and suggested that Freya would be disappointed if Bell did not take full advantage. When Bell refused, Zeus reminded Bell that heroes need to partake in romance. This actually reminded Bell even more of Ais, as he sat there pondering about the last few months and where everything is heading. When Freya finally recovered, she congratulated Bell on his success and Bell thanked her for the training. They then had dinner before Bell returned to the Hestia familia home. After Bell left, Freya finally understood the power of Liaris Freese.

Hestia was so relieved to see Bell and wanted to know exactly what happened. Bell did not say much except that Freya is a nice person, which immediately got Hestia extremely worried about what transpired...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Synchronization**

Hestia declared the next day to be a familia holiyay. The first one in a long time. Bell was mentally exhausted after Freya's mind-control training. To get the familia together, Hestia scheduled Welf and Haruhime to come back from their super secret projects. Mikoto and Lili also took a break from some joint adventuring with the Miach familia and Takemikazuchi familia. The entire familia enjoyed a big breakfast at the Hostess of Fertility and then went to a nearby hot spring for the afternoon. After Hestia made sure that Hermes was not nearby, the ladies were able to enjoy a nice time in a private bath before putting on bathing suits to join Bell and Welf. Everyone then went to an outdoor cookout that was arranged also by Hestia. That was the perfect ending for their vacation day.

As they were gathered around the fire, Mikoto and Lili updated everyone on their adventure. Lili helped route monsters to the party by using Cinder Ella. Mikoto used Futsunomitama to defeat a large group of monsters. When it got to Bell's turn, he showed everyone his new crystal magic which caused a lot of oohs and aahs. At which point, Hestia asked Bell whether he can make a diamond ring for her? To her surprised, Bell was less embarrassed than usual, and he actually asked all the ladies for their ring sizes. As everyone blushed at the thought, Hestia realized that Freya's training seems to have had an effect.

Hestia then took Bell for a short walk in the moon light. It was a full moon that allowed them to see quite well at night. Hestia again asked Bell if they were separated in the upcoming war, would he really want to meet on the moon. Looking up, Bell said it is so beautiful and it is what they did in the legends. With that, Hestia got serious and told Bell that they needed him to train hard with the Loki familia members. Bell agreed to do whatever what needed to help protect everyone.

The next day, Hestia and Bell went to the Loki familia home. Apparently Loki, Ais, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Bete, Leifya, Tione and Tiona were in the room along with Fels and Hermes. Then they went straight to business. Hestia still could not believe she is going to allow Bell live with the Loki familia for the duration of the training. Worst of all, the most important aspect of the training will be synchronizing Bell with Ais and then all of the other key members. Loki noticed Hestia's expressions, but she had the similar misgiving with Ais. However both Hestia and Loki knew what was at stake.

Hermes explained the situation with Hestia and Loki by his side. The understanding was that the Black Dragon threat had to be taken seriously and Bell had resistance to its charms. Combine with the corruption of multiple Great Spirits, they had to act now to best prepared for the situation. Thus, Bell had to train with each member separately to achieved mental synchronization with each person. Hermes also said that he will be their trainer. It was not quite clear to the participants what synchronization training meant, but Bete and Leifya were serious in thought with their imaginations running wild. Nevertheless, it was clear that the situation is very serious and personal feelings had to be set aside.

After Hermes talked, Fels updated everyone on the situation with the Xenos incuding the truce. He asked Bell to provide a first-hand account of the Light and Earth Great Spirits as well as the Xenos' role in the battle. Finn and Riveria were not surprised with the truth because they knew there was more to Bell's role than what was on the surface. Ais was really relieved after learning the whole truth and that Bell was totally vindicated. Bete and Gareth were also satisfied with the situation as well as they also suspected a lot of subterfuge. Tione and Tiona commented that they were glad they did not kill Wienne, which would have been a big mistake. At the end, Fels said that the Xenos have agreed to an informal alliance, which did shock the Loki familia members. The Xenos were going to becomes allies despite a fight to the death only about 2 weeks ago.

Loki was the last to talk. She expressed her full support of the training and laid out the training schedule, with 1-week of initial training with Ais. Shortly after the meeting, Hermes provided Ais and Bell with the detail schedule for the week. Mornings 9-11 will be devoted to Joint Aerial maneuvering. Then 11-noon will be Joint Aerial magic attacks. After lunch, 1-3 would be sword fight training. 3-5 would be Joint-Aerial sword fight training. 6-7 will be an one-hour session for Ais and Bell to battle against the other Loki familia members. Hermes also said, with a very slight smirk, 8-9 would be underwater fight training.

Ais briefly blushed at the thought of spending 1 week alone with Bell. Bell was also excited to spend so much quality time with Ais as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Ais**

Realizing the potential for the Joint Mage and Joint Aerial abilities, Hermes thought these would be ideal starting points for synchronization. This would allow Ais and Bell to focus on critical fighting skills, while he would eliminate remaining barriers between them. He smiled at the thought using his best tricks. Zeus must be envious of the role that he was about to play.

In the next morning, Hermes took Bell and Ais to the training grounds. In the Joint-Aerial maneuvering session, the training include maximum speed, tight turns, rapid ascent, rapid decent, spinning around and also separation during flight. In max speed tests, it was discovered that more power can be derived if they embraced each other instead of simply holding hands. Tight turns, ascent and decent also benefited from closer personal contact. Thus Hermes kept pushing them to embrace tighter and tighter to increase performance. For spinning around and separation, embracing got in the way and actually reduced performance. In the Aerial magic session, both offensive and defensive magic was tested. Aerial/firebolt had the desired effect like fire dragon breathe. Crystal/Ariel also delivered impressive cutting damage. It was also apparent that they should not embrace during magic use, and a short metal-chain tether was made so that they could use both hands. In the sword fight session, Bell and Ais were basically even in sword fighting when she did not use Aerial. When Aerial, Ais had a definite advantage, but Bell was quickly adapting to her speed. Furthermore his agility allowed effective counterstrikes. In the Joint-Aerial sword fight session, they practiced sword strikes while attached to each other with the tether. In the Loki familia sparring session, they practiced against Tione and Tiona. Both Tione and Tiona were shocked to see the effectiveness of Joint Aerial and both commented that it seemed as if they dancing in the air. In the underwater fighting session, the practice was held at the swimming pool. Ais and Bell practiced underwater sword fights. Hermes also had them practiced underwater wrestling. The close physical contact was extremely embarrassing for both of them, but they continued due to the importance of the training.

On the second day, the Aerial maneuvering training continued. Having learned the best way to maximize the speed output, the focus shifted to tight turns, ascent and descent. The separation training kept increasing the max speed and height from which Bell was dropped. In the Aerial magic session, the training moved from maximizing attack power to maneuvering the attack medium by steering the Aerial component. In the sword fight session, Bell seemed to be gaining ground on Ais, but Ais still had the advantage with Aerial. In the Joint-Aerial sword fight session, Bell and Ais continued to practice sword strikes with and without the tether. In the Loki familia sparring session, Ais and Bell practiced against Bete and Finn. Both Bete and Finn were also surprised to see the effectiveness of Joint Aerial. The apparent intimacy during the maneuvering made Bete quite jealous. In the underwater session, Ais and Bell continue to practice underwater sword fights and wrestling. Hermes did add an additional wrinkle, which was to turn off the lights to better simulate conditions under the ocean. Being unable to see, the situation got even more embarrassing as neither could be sure what they were grabbing. Furthermore, Bell got dizzy and lost conscious in the middle of the session. Thus Ais had to perform her duty to resuscitate Bell. To give Ais privacy, Hermes left the area with a smirk. However, Ais' heart was racing beyond her wildest dream. After Bell woke up and their eyes met, Ais ran away like a scared bunny.

On the third day, the Aerial maneuvering training, Hermes kept increasing the level of difficulty of the tasks. In particular, the separation during flight training kept increasing the height and speed from which Bell was dropped. In the Aerial magic session, the training continued to improve the ability to maneuver the attack medium by steering the Aerial component. In the sword fight session, Bell was now clearly ahead of Ais. Thus, the training shifted entirely to Bell fighting Ais while she was using Aerial. In the Joint-Aerial sword fight session, Bell and Ais continued to include fighting with and without the tether, as well as compensating if the tether was cut. In the Loki familia sparring session, Ais and Bell practiced against Riveria and Leifya who were launching magic attacks against them. Both Riveria and Leifya were also surprised to see the effectiveness of Joint Aerial. The apparent intimacy during the maneuvering also made Leifya extremely jealous. In the underwater session, Ais and Bell continue to practice underwater sword fights and wrestling. The wrestling was completely done in the darkness. Unfortunately, the level of embarrassment continued to increase as Ais' bathing suit became undone a couple times. Despite the numerous accidents, they continued to train hard due to the importance of the training.

On the fourth day, the training simply focused on further increasing the difficulty level. Bell continued to make progress as his attacks could routinely penetrate Aerial. In the separation training, Hermes had Ais improved her 'aim' when dropping Bell from the air. She had to deliver Bell within the bull's eye on the ground that was getting smaller and smaller. In the Loki familia sparring session, Ais and Bell practiced against Tione and Tiona while Leifya launched magic attacks against them. While the training was important, Leifya could not help but despair as it is now clear that she cannot catch up to Ais or Bell to stand by Ais' side. In the underwater session, the training remained roughly the same. However, the level of embarrassment increased even more when Hermes turned the lights on to help Ais find her bath suit. Furthermore, Ais got dizzy and lost conscious in the middle of the session. When Bell balked at performing his duty to resuscitate Ais, Hermes said they should not eat too much dinner before training and then offered himself as a substitute for the resuscitation. With Hermes' offer and urging from Zeus, Bell finally performed his duty. When Ais woke up, it was her turn to run away with utter embarrassment.

On the fifth day, Aerial training consisted only of tight turns and separation during flight. There was a small 'accident' during the separation training. For some unknown reason, the bull's eye was accidentally placed on a sky window over a bathing area. To everyone's shock, Bell fell into the bath where Riveria was bathing. Thus that session was suspended as Hermes was blamed for the unprecedented violation of Elf royalty. In the the Loki familia sparring session, Ais and Bell practiced against Tione, Tiona and Gareth while Leifya launched magic attacks against them. Originally Riveria was supposed to take Leifya's place, but Riveria took the day off due to the shock and embarrassment of the bathing incident. In the underwater session, the training remained roughly the same. For some strange reason, both their swimming suit was dislodged a couple times. When Hermes turned on the lights, he commented that "wow, there are nothing between the two of you, not even secrets...". This caused the both of them to turn bright red.

By the end of the week, Hermes was quite pleased with the training. Bell and Ais have learned to maximize the performance of Joint Aerial, Aerial/Firebolt and Aerial/crystal. Furthermore, the needed synchronization between Ais and Bell has been achieved. Unfortunately for Hermes, several Elves were absolutely furious with the bathing incident. While Riveria excused it as an accident, this was unprecedented and she was clearly embarrassed by a male human seeing her bathing. These elves, including Leifya and Filvis, punished Hermes severely, including hanging him upside down for 1 day while applying extensive feather tickling. Despite his harsh punishment, Hermes was grateful that the harmless accident had simplified his job for synchronizing Bell with Riveria.

For Ais and Bell, they can clearly see the fruits of their labor, though it was difficult for their eyes to meet after the many intimate memories from the underwater training, failing garments and mutual resuscitation.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Tiona and Tione**

Hermes decided that synchronization training with both Tiona and Tione should be next. The sisters were extremely excited to get to play with the argonaut. Their training plan had some similarities to the training with Ais. The first task was however to see if Joint Mage also conferred benefits to magic and skills. After some experimentation, there was apparently some benefits though the magnitude of the enhancement was much less than with Ais. It appeared that Joint Mage was not 'designed' for the sisters. However, Tione's List Iorum did function better when they held hands and even better when they embraced. Experimenting with Tiona and Bete, Tione was able to hold either target with higher probability and increased duration. The Berserk skill also appeared to be reasonably enhanced by holding hands or embracing, but they could not deduce whether that was due to Joint Mage or possibly 'Joint Luck'.

After lunch, training shifted from experimentation to physical combat. Bell took turns fighting Tione and Tiona. Both were physically stronger than Ais but lacked her remarkable swordsman skills. As a result, they were about even although they were 2 levels above Bell. As he adjusted to their fighting techniques, it appeared that Bell was actually getting the upper hand. The training shifted to the Loki familia sparring session. The first session pitted the 3 of them against Finn, Gareth and Bete. The teams were quite evenly matched though it seemed that Finn's team had a slight average. It was good for Bell to see how Finn dictates the battlefield so he could learn from Finn's quick thinking. After dinner, underwater training also involved sword fighting and wrestling with the lights on. Due to the sisters' strong water skills, Bell only fought them one-on-one. Both sisters managed to knock Bell out, and both had to perform their duty to resuscitate Bell. Even with their outgoing personalities, the physical contact during the underwater combat was embarrassing for the sisters. Furthermore, everyone blushed when Bell had to be resuscitated.

On the second day, as the training went on, Bell was getting the upper hand with both sisters. As a result, Hermes had to force Bell to use deadly force in order for Berserk to be activated. With Berserk, both sisters were able to improve their performance and the fight was roughly even again. For the Loki familia sparring session, the 3 of them continue to fight against Finn, Gareth and Bete. Compared to the first day, Bell was already showing improvements and better able to adapt to Finn's quick thinking. The underwater training continued to involve sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat. The sisters continued to maintain their strong advantage over Bell. Both sisters again managed to knock Bell out, and both again had to perform their duty to resuscitate Bell. Similar to how he paced the training with Ais, Hermes introduced started to turn off the lights to simulate actual combat under the ocean. Due to some unknown reason, the sisters' bathing suits were often dislodged during their wrestling, causing severe embarrassment to all 3 of the trainees when the lights were turned back on.

On the third day, Bell was already adapting to the sisters in the Berserk mode and starting to get the upper hand again. For the Loki familia sparring session, the 3 of them continue to fight against Finn, Gareth and Bete. Bell continued to show rapid improvement, and the battle was very even. The underwater training continued with the sisters continuing to maintain their strong advantage over Bell. Both sisters again managed to knock Bell out, but Bell finally managed to knock out Tione once. Bell had trouble bringing himself to resuscitate Tione but he finally performed his duty with Zeus' urging. Hermes introduced a new wrinkle in the underwater wrestling. Beyond conducting the practice in the dark, Bell had to wrestle both sisters at the same time, but both literally had one hand tied behind their back. With the darkness, it was difficult to tell who is wrestling with whom, so that gave Bell a substantial advantage. Due to some unknown reason, all their bathing suits were often dislodged during their wrestling, causing embarrassment to all 3 trainees when the lights were turned on.

On the fourth day, with Bell having gained the upper hand over each sister, Hermes had both sisters attacked Bell at the same time, though without Berserk mode. With their joint attacks, the sisters regained their advantage and knocked Bell out once. They then fought over whom will perform the lap pillow duty. For the Loki familia sparring session, the 3 of them practiced fighting Finn, Gareth and Bete while also facing magic attack from Leifya. Even though Leifya's attack often successfully knocked out a member of Bell's team, Bete was feeling embarrassed about the need for Leifya to achieve a victory. Bete felt surpassed by the tomato boy and it was humiliating. However, everyone was impressed at the implication that Bell's improvement, which basically changed the balance of power in the matchup. The underwater training focused on having both sisters wrestle with Bell at the same time. To decrease Bell's advantage from the previous session, only the right legs of Tione and Tiona were immobilized instead of one of their hands. That made a huge difference and they clearly regained their advantage over Bell. Although with the sparring in the darkness, it was still difficult to tell who is wrestling with whom, which was obviously to Bell's advantage. As in the previous sessions, all their bathing suits were often dislodged during their wrestling, again causing embarrassment to all 3 when the lights were turned on.

On the fifth day, Bell was able to adapt when fighting the 2 sisters simultaneously. While they did not use Berserk mode, it was quite amazing that he was fighting 2 level 6 combatants. Furthermore, Bell managed to knock both sisters out once with a kick technique that he learned from Ais. As a result, he had to perform the lap pillow duty with one lap per sister. For the Loki familia sparring session, the 3 of them again practiced fighting Finn, Gareth and Bete while also facing magic attacks from Leifya. The fight was more even than the previous day. The key was improved communications between Bell, Tiona and Tione that allowed them to warn each other of Leifya's attacks. In the underwater training, all of their bathing suits were often dislodged at the same time, causing even more embarrassment and a debate about how that could even be possible. Furthermore, Bell once managed to knock out both sisters, and he had to perform his resuscitation duty for both of them. Though Bell was nervous, Zeus's encouragement helped him successfully complete his duty.

After the training ended, both Tiona and Tione had some conflicting feelings. They enjoyed the time training with Bell but they also realized that Bell 'belonged' to Ais. Hermes again was quite proud of his training strategy. Synchronization appeared to have been achieved. Furthermore, Bell's physical fight skills continue to improve, while he seemingly had learned some valuable battle tactics from Finn.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Leifya**

Synchronizing Leifya and Bell was a huge challenge for Hermes. The jealousy with Ais was obvious, but yet Hermes could not take advantage of the revenge angle due to concern with hurting the overall team morale. Thus, he started the training without any new strategies.

As with Tiona and Tione, the first task was to see if Joint Mage also conferred benefits to magic and skills. After some experimentation, there was also some benefits though the magnitude of the enhancement was again much less than with Ais. It appeared that Joint Mage was not 'designed' for Leifya either. Nevertheless, an advantage was proven, and the advantage did become more significant when they embraced. Thus the first 2 hours of each day's training was devoted to magic use while they embraced. Leifya was first cursing Hermes in her thoughts, but even she could detect an improvement in her magic. Thus she went along with the training despite the incredible embarrassment.

After magic training, there was an hour of sparring. Bell was clearly the superior fighter, but it was important for them to learn each other's fighting style and techniques. Furthermore, this was a good opportunity to teach joint attack and defense skills. After lunch, more practical training took place where Leifya practiced concurrent chanting while Bell attacked. They then practice concurrent chanting while Bell defended Leifya. To increase the realism of the practice, Hermes brought 5 members of his familia to attack Leifya while Bell tried to protect her during concurrent chanting. The Loki familia sparring session first pitted Leifya and Bell against Finn and Riveria, who was finally comfortable enough to rejoin the training after the bathing incident. To disrupt the other team's magic, Bell had the advantage over Finn with the instantaneous firebolt. However, Riveria's could activate her magic faster, which made the battle more interesting. After some sparring, it was apparent that firebolt was far more disruptive than could be compensated by Riveria's superior chanting speed. Finally the underwater session was incredibly embarrassing for Leifya. While Bell has been through 2 weeks of humiliation, this was the first time for Leifya. Because Bell was far stronger, she was almost helpless in his arms, forcing Hermes to adjust by tying down both of Bell's feet. Still, the physical closeness of the training embarrassed both trainees.

On the second day, magic training progressed to concurrent chanting. As a result, Hermes had the two trainees dance to waltz music while Leifya chanted. Again, Leifya could tell that her magic was improving through Bell's ability, but she could not help but think about how Ais went through when she was training with Bell. The concurrent chanting training involved more attackers than the first day, as Bell and Leifya adapted to the challenge by improving communications with each other. Witnessing the improvement, Hermes contacted Miach to bring additional familia members for the third day. The Loki familia sparring sessions pitted Tiona, Tione and Riveria against Bell and Leifya. Having to defend Leifya from both sisters at the same time was a bigger challenge. This resulted in Leifya being knocked out several times, forcing Bell to perform lap pillow duties. Finally, the underwater session added the wrestling training in the dark to simulate actual battle conditions under the ocean. Unable to see, Leifya was not sure what she was fighting grabbing on to, adding more and more embarrassment to her situation. Even with both of Bell's feet tied together, Leifya was still being overpowered. Adding to the additional embarrassment, Leifya's bath suit became dislodged due to an unknown reason. When the lights went on, Leifya ran out of the room from utter embarrassment and humiliation.

On the third day, the two continued their magic training. Instead of waltz music, Hermes changes it to faster pace music. For concurrent chanting training, Hermes added to the level of difficulty by adding the Miach familia members to the training. The Loki familia sparring sessions again pitted Tiona, Tione and Riveria against Bell and Leifya. Bell and Leifya were able to make adjustments in their joint defense, reducing the numbers of times that Leifya received lap pillowing. Finally, in the underwater session, Leifya tried to adjust better to the wrestling in the dark. While some improvement was apparent, it was not nearly enough. Furthermore, Leifya felt dizzy and passed out during the training. As a result, Bell had to perform his resuscitation duty. When Leifya came to and realized what happened, Leifya jumped up and again ran out of the room from utter embarrassment and humiliation.

Realizing that the level of synchronization was adequate, Hermes stopped the training, much to the relief of Leifya and Bell. However, even she did not want to admit it, Leifya felt closer to Bell and even dreamed about their training several times. Hermes was again very pleased with his strategy that achieved synchronization under such a difficult situation.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Riveria**

The next day, the training with Riveria started. After the uproar over the bathing incident, Hermes realized that he cannot cause another incident. As a result, underwater training was out of the question. Instead, training was geared towards a cautious plan reflective of Riveria's royalty status. Fortunately, the apparent heavy lifting was already accomplished by accidental bathing accident.

The first task was again to see if Joint Mage also conferred benefits to magic and skills. After some experimentation, there again was some benefits though the magnitude of the enhancement was again much less than with Ais. It appeared readily apparent that 'Joint Mage' was almost 'designed' for Ais. However, since the improvement was still substantial, it was still worthwhile to fully delineate the amount of advantage and how to optimize the benefit. The testing started with holding hands, which again increased the performance enhancement on Riveria's magic. Since an embrace was out of the question, Hermes had the two trainees dances to the waltz while Riveria tested her magic. With the improved atmosphere, Riveria's magic again showed further improvement. After that, different spells were tested and all seemed to show a similar level of enhancement. After lunch, the focus shifted to physical combat. Riveria's fighting skills were clearly superior to Leifya, but the battle was pretty even. However, as the match continued, it was clear that Bell had superior strength and endurance. In the subsequent Loki Familia sparring sessions, Bell protected Riveria while they battled with Tiona and Tione. Due to Riveria's ability to chant much faster than Leifya, Tiona and Tione were no match for them. Bell ended up doing many lap pillows for both Tione and Tiona. Instead of having dinner with the familia, Riveria and Bell had reservations for a 7-course dinner. Dinner conversation revolved around Riveria's past and her family - all topics that Loki, Hestia and Hermes preapproved for Bell. After dinner was ballroom dancing, much to the surprise of everyone else in the dance hall. To the relief of Riveria, Bell, Ais, Loki and everyone else, the first day of training ended with a level of decorum that no one expected.

On the second day, magic training continued to test the limits of the Joint Mage ability. The fighting session also continued to show Bell's continuous improvement. While sparring, Riveria herself was amazed how quickly Bell adapted to her fighting style. Due to the 1st day's results in Loki familia sparring sessions, Hermes added Bete to help Tione and Tiona. The match was more even. However, much to Bete's dismay, he was added to the list of victims of the Riveria/Bell team. To add some spice to the training, Hermes instructed Bell to give Bete a lap pillow despite Bell's protests. When Bete regain his composure, he hung Hermes upside down for an hour before he would release him. After training, Riveria and Bell went for another elegant dinner, with the dinner conversation revolving around books that Bell have read and Riveria's interpretation of the authors' point of view. After dinner, the workers at the dance hall were surprised that Bell and Riveria went for another dance 'date', and rumors were rampant.

On the third day, magic training was stopped since it had reached the point of diminishing returns. The one-on-one fighting session was also stopped as Bell had improve too much to continue any further. The focus was almost entirely on sparring. In the morning, the sparring was against 10 members of the Hermes familia and additional members from the Miach familia and Ganesha familia. Despite the enormous numerical numbers advantage, the sparring was pretty even. Training in the afternoon was entirely against Loki familia members. Hermes added Ais to Bete, Tione and Tiona. With the sword princess' help, the match was finally more even. Ais did managed to lock Bell outonce, and before anyone could react, Ais gathered the unconscious Bell for his lap pillow. This completely shocked Bete, and he immediately realized that this was not the first time. After dinner, Riveria and Bell went out for another wonderful dinner. This time, the conversation revolved around Bell's vision for the future, including his goal for the Xenos and surface dwellers to coexist and cooperate. Riveria was quite impressed with Bell's vision and how it was realized in the improving relations with the Xenos. Instead of another evening of dancing, Riveria asked Ais to substitute for her, which caused an incredible reaction at the dance hall. Hermes agreed to Riveria's suggestion as he determined sufficient synchronization was achieved. Hestia and Loki also had to agree because they realize the Bell-Riveria rumors were all over Orario. With this, the training session with Riveria came to an end. Hermes was really pleased with himself as he succeeded under such difficult circumstances.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Finn, Gareth and Bete**

Hermes decided that training with Finn, Gareth and Bete should be combined. It would be more efficient and there was increasing concern that time is running out. Furthermore, to get the competitive juices flowing, he announced a round robin tournament between the 4 boys after 3 days of training. This immediately boosted Bete's spirits, as he was humiliated by Bell's lap pillow and teasing by Tione and Tiona.

The first task was again checking if Joint Mage providing any benefits to their magic and skills. There again was some benefits though the amount of enhancement was again much less than with Ais. At this point, everyone was quite sure that 'Joint Mage' was 'designed' for Ais and Bell. As with the earlier trainees, it was still worthwhile to fully delineate the amount of benefit and how to optimize the benefit. To the chagrin of the 4 male trainees, testing started with holding hands and advanced to embracing. Even Finn protested while Bete was in total revolt. After warnings from Loki, her familia members obeyed begrudgingly. As it turned out, the bad atmosphere generated by holding hands and embracing reduced the effectiveness of their magic. However, Loki, Tione and Tiona did enjoy peeking into the spectacle. Ais refused to watch anyone embracing Bell due to jealousy, and she attacked Tiona when she teased that Ais' boyfriend was enjoying his embrace with Bete.

After lunch, sparring sessions began, lifting everyone's mood. For combat training, initial training would involve 1 on 1 matches. After each hour, sparring partners would be rotated until each combatant has sparred with the other 3. Magic was also allowed with the exception of argonaut, while weapon use was limited to blunt metal rods. To get even more competitive juices going, anyone who was knocked unconscious would be subjected to lap pillow assistance until he waked up. Bell started off with Gareth, who had strength and endurance advantages over Bell, but lacked Bell's dexterity and agility. Bell was able to land many hits, but Gareth's toughness allowed him to withstand Bell's attacks. With Gareth's resistance, firebolt and crystal attacks also did not cause much damage. On the other hand, Gareth was not able to land many hits, but when he did, he left a substantial impact on Bell. At the end, Bell found himself on Gareth's lap. The next match pitted Bell against Finn. This was almost the reverse of the 1st battle. Bell had the advantage in strength and endurance, while Finn was quicker and more agile. Furthermore, Finn's experience and quick decisions gave him a substantial edge. Unfortunately for Bell, he also found himself on Finn's lap. In his final match, Bell fought with Bete. Skills-wise, Bete was a bad matchup for Bell, as Bete was at least as good in all the key categories except for magic. Furthermore, with Bete's magic resistance, firebolt and crystal attacks would have limited use without argonaut. Thus, Bell also found himself on Bete's lap.

On the second day, Hermes skipped magic training and went straight to combat training. In the morning, it would be 1-on-1 again while afternoon would be 2-on-2. Against Gareth, Bell showed improvement, as he avoided being knocked out but also was unable to deliver a knock-out strike. Against Finn, Bell also improved and was much more prepared for Finn's creative mind. The match ended up in a draw with neither able to knock the other out. The match against Bete was closer, but Bell ended up on Bete's lap again. In the afternoon, the team with Gareth always won as no one was able to knock him out. Training ended when Hermes and the 4 trainees went for a cookout, in which Finn and Gareth told stories about their old battles.

On the third day, Hermes continued with 1-on-1 sparring in the morning. Against Gareth, Bell showed even more improvement as he landed even more hits, but still was unable to knock Gareth out. Against Finn, Bell was starting to get the upper hand, and did finally deliver a knock-out. Against Bete, the match was even closer than the second day, but Bete still ultimately won. In the afternoon, Hermes conducted 3 hours of 2-on-2 battles. Gareth's toughness continued to give his team the advantage, but the combination of Bell and Bete did managed to knock Finn out.

The final day of training ended with a feast for all the trainees. As a huge surprise during the meal, Hermes, Loki and Fels announced that the round robin tournament has been replaced by a war game with the Xenos. Everyone was shocked with the Xenos announcement. Finn and Gareth were also marveling at Bell's incredible improvement in the last 3 days. Given how well Bell was battling at level 4 without using argonaut, he would surely have surpassed them when he reaches level 5.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Xenos War Games**

The Xenos agreed to help with training Gareth, Finn, Bete and Bell by participating in a war game. The 4 boys had one day to practice before the meeting the Xenos on the 1st level. The rules strictly prohibited any killing, the use of argonaut charge exceeding 20 seconds, and severe stabbing attempts.

To better simulate the Xenos team, Hermes convinced Ryuu and Asfi to form a practice team with Ais and Tiona. Thus, a level-boosted Ais would play the role of Asterius while a level-boosted Tiona would play the role Lyd. Ryuu and Asfi would simulate the flying Xenos - Gros, a Gargoyle Xenos and Ray, a Harpy Xenos. The results were not promising, as the practice often ended with the ladies giving lap pillows to Bell, Finn and Bete. Though Gareth was never knocked out, he was still usually beaten badly.

The next morning, the 4 boys went to meet the Xenos on the 1st floor. Fels was there to witness the battle as well as most of the Loki familia. Despite his several attempts, Hermes was prevented from sneaking into the dungeon. After the two sides shook hands on the misunderstanding from a few weeks ago, they took their positions for the game. The goal was to capture the other team's flag. As expected, Gareth, Finn, Bete and Bell were pitted against Asterius, Lyd, Gros and Ray.

With Leifya's magic signifying the start the games, Bell and Bete went on the offensive while Gareth and Finn stayed in the back to guard their flag. This protection scheme was necessary due to the 2 flying Xenos. The more aggressive Xenos only kept Asterius in the back to protect their flag, while Lyd, Gros and Ray went on the attack. In the 2-on-3, Bell quickly tried to even the odds by using a 10 second argonaut crystal attack on Gros and Ray. Gros was able to avoid the attack, but the attack did damage the Ray. At the same time, Lyd and Bete squared off each other in a pretty even battle. When Finn saw Bell's strike on Ray, he quickly decided to take advantage of Bell's success by joining the battle. In the 3-on-3, Finn took on Gros, which allowed Bell to focus on the injured Ray. After firing off multiple firebolts at Ray, Bell apologized to the unconscious Harpy and ran ahead to capture the enemy's flag. In the meantime, Finn and Bete were keeping Gros and Lyd fully occupied. While the Harpy was carried off, Bell and Asterius squared off against each other. Asterius smirked and said "I guess this will be our deciding match", to which Bell nodded. The battle between Bell and Asterius was quite even. Surprised by Bell's huge improvement, Asterius asked Bell whether he ate a couple magic stones, to which Bell replied "I just leveled up and have been training hard". Bell first gained the advantage by using the short duration argonaut several times. But Asterius fought back with his superior strength and ice based magic sword. At the end, both managed to knock each other out so their personal match ended in a draw. The Bell/Loki familia did win as Finn defeated Gros and captured their flag.

After a hour of rest and recovery, the games started anew. This time, the Xenos went on all all-out attack from the beginning. After some planning, they decided to switch fighting partners based on Finn's success last time. As a result, Gros attacked Bete, while Lyd attacked Finn. Because Ray lost to Bell, he instead went after Gareth while Bell and Asterius squared off again. The new strategy seemed to pay dividends for the Xenos, as Lyd was a much better matchup for Finn, while Gros' speed roughly canceled Bete's agility. At the same time, while Ray could not cause significant impact on Gareth, Ray was much faster than Gareth, resulting in a stalemate. Thus, the battle between Bell and Asterius became the apparent deciding factor. Asterius had to change his strategy as Bell seemed to have adjusted to his use of the ice magic. As a result, the battle started out as more of a slugfest between the two. While Bell was now able to fight Asterius with his improved sword fighting skills, he realized that Asterius had a strength an endurance advantage. Thus Bell looked for an opening for an argonaut strike with firebolt. However, Asterius read Bell's mind and kept attacking so Bell would have no chance to use his argonaut firebolt. At the end, all the individual battles were essentially stalemated, but the Xenos team captured the flag when Gros realized that he could get to the flag faster than Bete could because he was simply faster.

After another hour of rest and recovery, a third match started. Finn was quite embarrassed by his miscalculations that led to the loss. Thus, Gareth was not drawn into the battle from the start of the game. The Xenos read their defensive formation and kept the weaker Ray in the back to protect their flag. This resulted in matchups of Bell vs. Asterius, Finn vs. Lyd and Bete vs. Gros. Thus, there was again stalemates between Finn vs. Lyd and Bete vs. Gros. Again, the battle may be decided by the match between Bell vs. Asterius. Realizing that Asterius would not allow him the opportunity for an argonaut magic strike, Bell focused on his sword fight with Asterius. He was also learning to infuse a little more argonaut charging into his physical attacks, thereby effectively increasing his strength and speed. This small change actually made a noticeable difference and caused Asterius to wonder how Bell's strength and speed could be improving from match to match. The small advantage finally allowed Bell to put a little distance between Asterius to fire a 2 second argonaut firebolt. The firebolt stunned Asterius a little, which allowed several more 2 second argonaut firebolts and then many 3 second argonaut firebolts. At that point, Fels jumped in and stopped the match to prevent any necessary injuries. Thus, Bell had won his 3rd and deciding match with a TKO. After treatment, Asterius was furious with himself and asked Bell for a rematch after the war. Bell agreed, but actually suggested a monthly battle to keep each other training hard. With that, the war games were over.

On their way back to the Loki familia home, the senior executives looked at each other and acknowledged that Bell had made another leap right in front of their eyes. Bete also recognized the same leap and was frustrated with his own failure to land any winning blows. Leifya was in disbelief while Riveria was trying to comfort Leifya. Ais simply said to Bell that she was proud of him for training so hard, while Tiona and Tione kept calling the little rookie by their pet name for him - argonaut. When Tiona noticed that Bell and Ais were holding hands, Ais explained that they need to keep their synchronization in maximum operating order.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - The Daring Mission**

After the Xenos war games, Bell continued to practice with the Loki familia. Hermes also continued as the drillmaster and regularly changed the makeup of the battling teams. With Hestia away on a trip, Lili and Mikoto joined in the games to gain more experience.

However, two days after their return, Fels came to the Loki familia home with bad news - the Xenos had evacuated from their homes because the enemy was moving. Apparently the 18th floor had become the enemy's new staging ground. Furthermore, a very large force of very powerful monsters were slowly moving up the dungeon from the deep levels.

After consulting with other gods, Hermes and Loki agreed on a scouting mission to gather information on the enemy bosses and strengths. They decided on a very small scouting part consisting of Bete and Asfi who were both capable of high speed movement. Lili, who was visiting Bell, also volunteered for the dangerous mission. Despite misgivings about Lili's low-level experience, Loki agreed to Lili's request due to her Cinder Ella magic.

After Asfi equipped them with Hades Hats and communications stones, the scouting team quickly headed to the 3nd floor where the Xenos were currently residing. They met with Gros, who kept watch on them as they descent down the dungeon. When they got past the 15th floor, it was clear that the dungeon had been modified by the enemy. With the Hades Hats, they moved without being detected but still had to be very cautious because an enemy boss may be able to detect their movements or body odor. After arriving on the 18th floor, Bete realized that the 18th floor now resembled the 49th floor with the viscum, the countless virga and violas. As they approached Rivira, they could see numerous light sources inside Rivira. Assuming those were light elementals, Rivira may well be the enemy's headquarters. As they got even closer to the town, there were so many monsters and elementals that it was impossible to continue without risking detection. At that point, they waited for an opportunity to approach Rivira while they updated Fels about the 18th floor using the communications stone. Some time passed but still there was no opportunity to approach the town. To spy on the enemy, Lili decided to take off the Hades Hat and changed her appearance to a light elemental. As they watched Lili walked towards the town, Bete and Asfi realized Lili was taking a big risk.

Lili entered the town and immediately learned two important facts. First, there were fire elementals there in addition to light elementals and earth elementals. Second, they were all working together, confirming some type of central authority. She quickly found a hiding place to report her findings. Afterwards, she noticed a central location with several more light elementals that were ordering around other elementals. After those light elementals left, she changed her appearance to match the bossy elementals and approached the central location. There were still a number of fire elemental there being instructed by possibly the Great Fire Spirit. Furthermore, the Great Earth Spirit also appeared to be involved in the same conversation. As she calmly circled by them, she heard portions of the conversation about the Black Dragon requiring the Wind Spirit to completely rule the weather in their attack on the surface. She also heard that the surface dwellers had no chance because of the dragon's secret 2nd magic stone in its unexpected tail location. Finally the attack from the dungeon would use all the dungeon exits in 3 waves of attack, with Earth and Light leading the 1st and Fire leading the 2nd wave.

Unfortunately, the same light elementals came back and immediately noticed the 'Lili elemental'. They told her to stop and report, but Lili ran and used the communications stone to report her information. However, that was her last report as they heard a loud explosion. Bete and Asfi waited as long as they could but it became obvious that Lili was at least captured. Since they had no chance to save her, they had to returned back to the surface to report personally to the team.

While Lili's information was critical, everyone cried after learning of her sacrifice. Loki and Hermes agreed the dragon's 2 magic stones explained why the dragon was so difficult to kill. It also explanied why the dragon took so long to recover after its battle with the Zeus familia and the Hera familia. No one knew how it would even regenerate a magic stone.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Knossos**

Based on Lili's information, the enemy would simultaneously attack through the Babel lid and the Knossos exits. With the huge number of monsters, the city's defense would be completely overwhelmed. Given the way the Earth Spirit and Bell collapsed the area near the 18th floor entrance, a counter strategy would be to collapse the Knossos exits and as much of the Knossos as possible. The team of Gareth, Bete and Mikoto were assigned to accomplish this. Both Gareth and Mikoto have relevant magic for breaking down the ground, and Bete would be able to detect hidden doors and traps. The plan would collapse surface exits first before going into the dungeon and collapsing the entrances on each floor. The Xenos also agreed to assist in finding the various exits.

Due to the time urgency, Gareth, Bete and Mikoto immediately headed to the known Knossos exits including the Daedelius Street area. Several members of the Ganesha familia accompanied them to help guard against an ambush. Fortunately, they did not encounter any enemy and were able to immediately work on demonishing the exit areas. Following their plan, Gareth activated earth raid to destroy the ground while Mikoto used Futsunomitama over the same area to magnify the effect. Their efforts were successful, caving in the exit areas. The Ganesha familia then brought workers in to fill crevices with rocks, water and cement to completely seal off these areas.

The team took a break to give Mikoto some time to recover as she nearly went mind zero from over-exertion. After lunch, they met up with the Xenos to continue the destruction of the Knossos entrances from the dungeon. Several Ganesha famillia members also went along to provide extra protection. Going through the Knossos entrances on the top floors, they were able to collapse critical points including stairs, junction points, and entrance areas in the top 2 floors. After collapsing the entrance area on the 2nd floor, Mikoto went mind zero from over-exertion and the team carried her back to the Hestia familia.

The operation was an overall success. By collapsing and sealing critical junctions, stairs and entrances, it would be an enormous task to open the areas back up. Furthermore, by making the adjacent areas unstable, even earth elementals and the Great Earth Spirit would not attempt to rework the area. The Xenos kept a watch over the destroyed Knossos entrances, and reported the surprised enemy reactions to Fels.

After Mikoto woke up, Hestia and her familia members congratulated her on the job well done and her advance to level 3 on almost an Bell-pace. Furthermore, she gained a development ability, spirit healing, probably due to the excessive use of Futsunomitama. After that, Hestia announced that Welf advanced to level 3 while away on his mission.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - Ultimatum**

Realizing their secret plans have been exposed, the enemy moved up its attack schedule. Their surface forces headed towards Orario while their forces in the dungeon increased their monster-herding pace towards the surface from the 18th floor.

At the same time, a messenger delivered an ultimatum to Loki and Freya: "Deliver the Sword Princess to us and we will let you live in peace". Loki, Freya, Hestia and Hermes all scoffed at such a demand.

After hearing about the ultimatum, Ais actually started considering what life would be like as a captive princess. Loki quickly admonished her "One, you are not expendable. Two, they are clearly trying to gain power while weakening us. Three, they clearly have corrupted the Great Spirits for thunder, lighting, water and ice. Four, you would be the last piece of the puzzle. Five, I don't want to be forced to use my Arcana because I am having too much fun down here.".

Despite their determination, they realized it would be almost impossible to simultaneously withstand an attack from outside the city and another attack from the dungeon. Therefore, the decision was made to conduct a preemptive strike to weaken the enemy's forces in the dungeon. The goal of the raid would be to capture or destroy the Great Spirits of earth, light and fire.

To maintain the city's defense, Loki initially decided that the raiding party would only consist of Bell, Ais, Riveria, Asfi, Tiona and Bete. However, based on Hermes' suggestion, Mikoto and Ryuu were added to the team. With Futsunomitama, Mikoto could make a surprise counterstrike if the Great Earth Spirit continue to use quake attacks. With her ability to fly and her magic resistance, Ryuu may offer important options against the Great Spirits. As Hermes also suggested, Bell tested Joint Mage with Mikoto and Ryuu and confirmed that hand-holding and embracing also improved their magic power output.

Before leaving on the raid, Haruhime's leveling group used advanced Uchide no Kozuchi to level up the raiding party.

A number of items were provided to the raiding party. Asfi brought enough Hades Hats for the raiding party. Each member was given a communications stone. To increase their firepower, Mikoto, Asfi and Ryuu were given magic swords.

Finally, Amid Teasanare gave Bell an unicorn horn that had been enchanted with purification magic. Amid also gave them instructions for its usage on the corrupted Great Spirits.

After the raiding party left on its mission, Hermes and Freya went to the secret headquarters, Hestia stayed near the Babel in case Bell needed assistance, while Loki stayed at her familia home to direct the war.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Surprise Attack**

With their Hades Hats, the raiding party enjoyed an uninterrupted trip down to the 18th floor. On their way, they saw thousands of powerful monsters heading towards the surface. As they approached Rivira, they saw a large group of elementals heading their way. Figuring that is probably where the corrupted Great Spirits were, Asfi flew above the group of monsters to get a better look, and she quick returned to confirm seeing the Great Spirits of earth and light. While the Fire Spirit was not there, 2 Great Spirits would be well worth their effort.

Having learned from Finn, Bell proposed a cleverly-timed attack plan that fully leveraged their capabilities in communications, stealthiness, flight ability and magic attacks. The daring plan was put into action:

1\. Bete and Tiona circled around the monsters so they would be in position to attack or capture the 2 Great Spirits. If the capture proves to be successful, Tiona was prepared with 2 spare Hades Hat and the special unicorn horn with purification magic.

2\. Once Bete and Tiona got in position, Ais and Bell used Ariel to get in an optimum viewing position for the first strike. After only a 1 minute argonaut charge to reduce charging noise, an Aerial/Firebolt was directed at the 2 Great Spirits.

3\. Ryuu also got Mikoto in a good viewing position for her Futsunomitama attack. With impeccable timing, Mikoto immediately crushed the 2 Great Spirits after the Ariel/firebolt.

4\. The combined damage from the argonaut Aerial/firebolt and the Futsunomitama severely injured the 2 Great Spirits. Bell and Ais then kept raining Aerial/crystal spells on them to knock them on the ground.

5\. At the same time, Asif got Riveria in position for viewing her targets before her Vas Windheim spell, which was timed for 10 seconds after the start of the first strike. The powerful magic destroyed all the nearby elementals and monsters, allowing Bete and Tiona a clear path to the injured Great Spirits.

6\. After the path was cleared to the Great Spirits, Bete and Tiona rushed in and completed the capture by knocking them out.

7\. The Great Spirits were immediately tied up and gagged. While Ryuu and Asfi were transporting them back to the surface, the special unicorn horn was used to purify them.

By capturing their leaders and delivering huge attacks, the team got the elementals and monsters in total disarray. By the time they figured out where the attacks came from, Asfi and Ryuu were already well on their way back to the surface with the prisoners. To further confuse the enemy, Bell and Ais fired off several short-charge argonaut-Ariel/firebolt strikes to lead them away from the escape route. This also bought Riveria enough time to launch another Vas Windheim that wiped out the remaining light elementals, earth elementals and nearby monsters. As the team rushed back to the surface, there were thousands of angry monsters giving chase. The Xenos had planted a number of traps, which were sprung on the enemy after the team passed by. These traps bought several more minutes to escape for the team and the Xenos, who have joined the battle at the Babel.

After the exciting news of the capture, Hestia waited eagerly for Bell's return at the lid. As the raiding team returned, she gave Bell a last minute Falna update before the monsters started to arrive. With tremendous luck, her efforts were rewarded. Bell has just advanced to level 5 with a large jump in magic stats and endurance stats. Furthermore, he also luckily gained an additional development ability - magic resistance. After giving Bell the good news and advice on the new ability, Hestia left with Asfi who flew Hestia back to the secret headquarters.


End file.
